A Twin Cities car-sharing program will use the sun to charge its plug-in hybrid vehicles, making it the first program of its type to use solar-powered cars, it says.

HourCar, a nonprofit program that rents out cars by the hour or day in St. Paul and Minneapolis, unveiled its first solar-powered charging hub Wednesday at St. Paul’s Mississippi Market at Selby Avenue and Dale Street.

HourCar expects to open a second solar charging hub within a couple weeks at the Minneapolis 46th Street Hiawatha light rail station. The two solar-powered hubs are intended to demonstrate what may be possible with “green energy” projects.

“In a few short years, this will be the standard; this won’t be cutting-edge anymore. But sometimes, you’ve got to be the turtle that sticks its neck out,” said St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, who along with other politicians praised the project.

HourCar has stationed a plug-in Toyota Prius at the market parking lot, and it installed 10 photovoltaic solar panels at an angle on the store’s roof to absorb energy from the sun. The panels connect to the electric grid, contributing more than their share of power to the grid when the car isn’t in use, said Chris Duffrin, executive director of the nonprofit Neighborhood Energy Connection, which runs HourCar.

The Minnesota Office of Energy Security provided the $18,000 grant that paid for the panels, and the agency plans to solicit proposals next month for eight more charging stations, said Bill Glahn, its director.

— Leslie Brooks Suzukamo

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